I had an opportunity to ride in an early 80's Westfalia Vanagon recently in which the owner had installed a Porsche (3.2l w/G50 5-speed I believe). Lots of mods necessary to get it right, but this guy was an ex Porsche/VW mechanic, so he had the resourcs. He got the 911 engine from a [new] wrecked 911. Needless to say, this thing moved! While stopped at a light, some kids in an lowered import were overheard commenting: "Why would anyone would put such nice wheels (17" Ronals) on such a POS?" It was quite entertaining to leave them and their respective jaws in the dust! They tried to keep up with the Vanagon, but no dice! The owner did mention that the front end tends to get very light and unstable at around 110+ but runs just fine at 85mph all day. He has taken it to Cabo several times with few problems. This was his current daily driver until his Syncro engine was ready (another custom 2400cc Porsche/VW hot rod). Supposedly, this Vanag! on was to be featured in one of the VW mags soon. All it takes is $$$.

Michael - bone stock 87 Westy

----- Original Message -----

Sent: 5/12/01 6:13:23 AM

Subject: Porsche 911 Engine

This is funny that someone would bring up this topic. Somewhere in my real house (i.e. my parent's house that I grew up in), I have an issue of CAR magazine (the British monthly) where they did exactly this - they put a 911 engine in a Vanagon. I was just telling my friends about this since I've been showing them my "new" bus. The magazine was dated somewhere in the early 80's, I'm sure - I think the Vanagon was relatively new when this article came out. Next time I'm in Pittsburgh, I will see if I still have the magazine. To this day, I rememeber them saying that there was nothing better than the look on someone's face who was driving a BMW 5-series when they passed them on the Autobahn at 120+ mph in a bus! : )

--- EarthLink: It's your Internet.